Nagaon woman rescued from gang

Avishek Sengupta

Guwahati, May 27: Two persons have been arrested for their involvement in an inter-state trafficking syndicate and three women, including one from Assam's Nagaon district, were rescued, Delhi police said today.

A special task force, comprising Delhi, Assam, Rajasthan and Haryana police officers, formed on May 8, arrested two members of the syndicate - Altaf, 28, who hails from Jehanabad in Bihar and Ram Kesh alias Kishan, 30, who hails from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh - from Rohtak in Haryana on Thursday. The team rescued the 27-year-old woman from Nagaon district, another woman from Calcutta and a minor from Bhagalpur.

The police team was formed on the basis of an FIR filed at Kampur police station in Nagaon district on May 5 by family members of the 27-year-old woman, who went missing after reaching New Delhi railway station.

"Assam police informed us on the alleged abduction and considering the sensitivity of the case, we set up the STF and started search operations. Based on intelligence reports, we raided Haryana with the help of Haryana police and apprehended the duo where, the other two ladies were kept," deputy commissioner of police (South) Ishwar Singh said today.

Singh said the syndicate members used to abduct single woman travellers from New Delhi railway station and sell them to Haryana-based traffickers for forced marriage and prostitution.

Singh said a couple, Sunil and Payal Jha, based at Munirka in New Delhi, were the kingpins of the syndicate. They are absconding.

"The duo are on the run but they will be apprehended soon. The gang had hurriedly sent the Assam woman home and she reached Nagaon yesterday. In the raid, we also recovered her laptop and mobile phone," Singh said.

The arrested duo reached Kampur police station today where their statements were recorded. Tomorrow, they will be sent back to New Delhi where they will be remanded in custody, Nagaon police said.